The Book, Cat, & Cat Book Lovers Almanac

of historical trivia regarding books, cats, and other animals. Actually this blog has evolved so that it is described better as a blog about cats in history and culture. And we take as a theme the advice of Aldous Huxley: If you want to be a writer, get some cats. Don't forget to see the archived articles linked at the bottom of the page.

May 23, 2016

May 23, 1617

Elias Ashmole, (May 23, 1617 to May 18, 1692) investigated many topics in his research. He investigated alchemy, various fields we now call natural sciences,
and vestiges in the environment from former eras. In a world where the past was seen as static, these items were not clues: the oddly shaped stones, the inexplicable bones, were called curiosities. Ashmole was one of the founders of the Royal Society. His interest in these curiosities from history and the natural world led Ashmole to catalog important collections; of exotic plants and the coins in the King's collections, for example. And he bought books, old books.

Ashmole left his many collections to Oxford University, where they became the Ashmolean Museum.

There we find what is called the Ashmolean Bestiary, which contains this detail from an illuminated medieval manuscript
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